Releasable sheet holder

ABSTRACT

A releasable sheet holder including a body piece presenting a platen portion in two spaced-apart sections and a handle joining the sections and disposing them in a plane for supporting a flexible sheet, such as a cloth or a paper sheet. The two ends of the body piece are upturned, and the flexible sheet is lapped over the ends and a U-shaped clip slides over the ends for holding the sheet to the body piece. The body piece is made of a flexible material, and the two platen sections are spaced apart by the handle which can be squeezed together for tautly holding the sheet on the body piece when the handle portion is not being squeezed.

States Patent 1191 Stoneburner 1 Oct. 22, 1974 I RELEASABLE SHEET HOLDER2,546,245 3/1951 Weigel 51/393 [75] Inventor: Edwin B. Stoneburner,Racine, Wis. 3/1969 Parker 51/392 [73] Assignee: Printing Developments,Inc., Racine, Primary ExaminerOthell M. Simpson Wis. Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Arthur J. Hansmann [22] F1led: Nov. 1, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT l l PPNOJ 411,834 A releasable sheet holder including a body piece presentinga platen portion in two spaced-apart sections 52 us. c1 51/392, 15/233,24/243 K and a handle Wining the Sections and disposing them 511 1m. 01.B24d 15/00 in a Plane for Supporting flexible Sheet, Such as a 1581Field of Search 51/358, 382, 383, 391, Cloth or P P Sheet The two endsOfthe body Piece 51/392, 24/243 K, 245 R 245 F 245 are upturned, and theflexible sheet is lapped over the 15031433 ends and a U-shaped clipslides over the ends for holding the sheet to the body piece. The bodypiece is [56] References Cited made of a flexible material, and the twoplaten sections are spaced apart by the handle which can be UNITEDSTATES PATENTS squeezed together for tautly holding the sheet on the Fbody piece when the handle portion is not being flVlS 2,()2l,6()9 111935 Pippert 24/243 1( Squeezed 2,516,396 7/1950 Kersh 15/233 12 Claims,6 Drawing Figures RELEASABLE SHEET HOLDER This invention relates to areleasable sheet holder such as a sheet holder for holding a piece ofcloth, a paper sheet, or the like, and doing so in a manner wherein thesheet is tautly held and is releasable for ready replacement of thesheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The prior art is already aware of releasablesheet holders which receive and hold sheets, such as paper, cloth, andlike materials. These sheets may be provided and utilized for thepurpose of applying or spreading liquids on a surface, or for thepurpose of holding a piece of sandpaper, or for any similar purpose. Inthe prior art holders, the constructions are generally complex in thatthey require spring-loaded retainers or clips or like complex fastenersfor securing the sheet to a platen or body piece, or the prior artholders do not satisfactorily hold the sheet taut and snugly against aplaten portion of the holder, or the prior art holders do not permitready replacement of the sheets. Still further, the prior art holders donot receive and support a sheet so that the sheet can be readilypositioned on the holder to overlap all of the ends and sides of theholder such that only the sheet itself is projected toward the workingsurface, such as for the purpose of spreading a liquid over the workingsurface by means of only the sheet, rather than the holder, or for thepurpose of applying the sheet such as a sandpaper sheet, to the workingsurface without having the holder contact the working surface.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to improve uponthe releasable sheet holders heretofore known. More specifically, it isan object of this invention to provide a releasable sheet holder whichdoes not have the limitations or shortcomings as mentioned above, and,instead, the present invention provides a releasable sheet holder whichreadily and securely receives a sheet and holds and supports the sheetin a taut position for applying the sheet against the working surface,and to do this without exposing the holder itself to the workingsurface.

Still further, it is an object of this invention to provide a releasablesheet holder which is inexpensive to manufacture, is simple in itsconstructions so that there are no hinged or pivoted or other complexparts, but yet the sheet is releasably retained in a taut position onthe holder.

Still further, it is an object of this invention to provide aninexpensive releasable sheet holder which is susceptible to a high speedtype of mass production wherein the individual holder can be made fromone continuous piece of a sheet form which can be extruded in a longlength and from which the individual holders can simply be cut off atthe desired length.

Still further, it is an object of this invention to provide a releasablesheet holder which yieldingly urges the sheet into a taut and snugposition relative to the holder, but which nevertheless does not requireany moving parts or any complex construction for achieving thisobjective.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading thefollowing description in light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end elevational view ofone embodiment of this invention and showing a sheet attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of afragment of FIG. 1 with parts and thesheet removed therefrom.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a fragment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of a fragment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of another slightly differentarrangement of the sheet holder shown in FIG. 1, and showing the centralhandle portion thereof.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a fragment of the holder shown in FIG. 1,and with the parts ready for assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawings show theholder includes the body piece, generally designated 10 and the twoU-shaped clips, generally designated 11. A sheet 12 is shown to bereleasably held by the holder, and it will be understood that the sheetmay be of cloth, paper, or other material suitable for assuming theposition shown in FIG. 1 such that the sheet has a planar centralportion l3and two end portions 14 and 16 which snugly overlap the.upturned ends 17 and 18, respectively, of the body piece 10. Further,the sheet 12 is shown to have a face 19, and this face may be a nap ofcloth material, such'as fleece or the like, or it may even be asandpaper face where the sheet 12 is of a sandpaper construction.

Thus the sheet 12 is tautly held by the holder which has a platenportion consisting of the two platen sections 21 and 22 which are shownto be disposed in the same flat plane and which have faces, such as theface 23, which present a backing to the planar portion 13 of the sheet12. It will also be seen that the body piece 10 has an upstanding handleportion 24 which is centrally disposed on the holder and which actuallyforms a connection between the two platen sections 21 and 22.

Thus, as viewed endwise shown in FIG. 1, the body piece is shown to begenerally of a W shape wherein the upturned ends 17 and 18 form theouter legs of the letter W, and the handle 24 forms the center portionor leg of the letter W. That is, all of the projections on the bodypiece 10 are to the side of the holder opposite from the side on whichthe sheet 12 is located, and thus no part of the holder is presentedtoward the working surface which would be in contact with the sheetsurface 19, whether it be for the purpose of spending a liquid or forsanding the working surface, or for any other purpose.

In further description of the holder as viewed in FIG. 1, it will beseen that the holder is made of one continuous sheet form extending fromone upturned end 17 and through the platen section 21 and through thetwo handle legs or portions 26 and the handle spanning portion 27 andthe platen portion 22 and into the other upturned end 18. In thisconfiguration, the body piece 10 is of a simplified construction but yetit permits the secure holding of the sheet 12 and the ready replacementthereof, as hereinafter described. Still further, the holder can be madeof an extruded plastic which is somewhat flexible, as also hereinafterfurther described.

The drawings further show that the body piece 10 has its lengthextending in the direction along the terminal edges 28 of the upturnedends 17 and 18, and the handle 24 also extends in that direction and theends 17 and 18 and the handle 24 extend throughout the length of thebody piece 10 which extends from the edge 29 to the edge 31, asindicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 4. Thus the sheet 12 is shown tobe of a length longer than the length of the body piece 10, and thesheet edges 32 and 33 extend beyond the respective edges 29 and 31 ofthe holder 10 to overlap the holder 10 and to avoid any part of theholder 10 being presented to or in contact with the working surface.

Again it will be noted that the sheet sides 14 and 16 wrap over the bodypiece upturned ends 17 and 18, and the clips 11 are snugly disposed overthe sheet portions 14 and 16 for releasably holding the sheet 12 to theholder itself. The clips 11 are shown to be U-shaped, and FIG. 3displays that the clips also extend throughout the length of the bodypiece 10, but again the sheet 12 extends beyond the edges of the clips11, such as the edge designated 34 in FIG. 3. The clips 11 thereforehave their legs 36 disposed slightly spaced apart but inwardly towardeach other relative to the spanning portion 37 of the clips 11, and thusthe legs 36 snugly hold the sheet 12 to the respective upturned ends 17and 18. Also, the clips 11 are slightly flexible for yieldingly urgingthe sheet portions 14 and 16 in secure position relative to the upturnedends 17 and 18.

In generally W shape of the body piece 10, as shown and described, thebody piece 10 can be made of one sheet form extending as shown anddescribed and presenting the handle 24 in the loop shape shown. The bodypiece 10 can be made of a resilient material, and the platen sections 21and 22 are shown spaced apart by the inter-connection of the handleportion 14 to have a space designated 38 therebetween. FIG. shows thatwith the resilient characteristic of the handle 24, the handle portionsdesignated 39 and 41 can be moved toward each other to come intoabutment, as shown in FIG. 5, and thus the platen sections 21 and 22 canbe moved toward each other at which time the sheet 12 can be applied tothe body piece and the clips 11 can be slid over the sheet portions 14and 16, all for securing the sheet to the holder such that upon releaseof the squeezing of the handle 10 from the dotted position shown in FIG.5 to the solid line position shown in FIG. 1, the sheet 12 will beautomatically tautly held by the holder. Further, the arrangement issuch that the user can readily and easily attach and remove the sheet 12simply by placing one end of the sheet on the upturned end 17, forinstance, and then squeezing the handle 24 with one hand and applyingthe other clip 11 to the upturned end 18 to hold the sheet 12 as shownin FIG. 1.

Further, it will be noticed that the terminal portions 42 of theupturned ends 17 and 18 are enlarged portions and thus the sheet 12 issecurely held between the upturned ends 17 and 18 and the clips 11, andthe clips 11 themselves are also held against sliding off the holder ina direction except that which is herinafter described in connection withFIG. 6.

FIG. 6 shows the corner of the holder 10 with the sheet 12 appliedthereto and with its sheet end 16 overlapping the leg 18 and with theclip 11 ready to be slid axially of its length and onto the sheetportion 16. In this arrangement, the sheet portion designated 43 iscrimped together, as shown in FIG. 6, and thus the clip can lead ontothe sheet portion 16 for sliding as mentioned. That is, the clip 11 hasa lead-in onto the sheet tapered or crimped end 43 which can be heldtogether by the users fingers while he slides the clip 11 onto the sheetportion 16 and along the holder upturned end 18. With this arrangement,the clip 11 can be of a minimum span between its legs 36, to tightlyhold the sheet, but it will be able to be slid readily onto the clampingor holding position by virtue of the lead-in given by the sheet taperedportion 43 formed by the squeezing of the users fingers to form theportion 43 as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 5 shows that the platen sections can be angled slightly upwardly,as shown by the sections designated 44 and 46 in FIG. 5, such that whenthe handle portion 24 is squeezed together the sections 44 and 46 willcome into a plane relative to each other so that upon release of thesqueezing of the handle 24 the platen sections 44 and 46 may occupy thesame flat plane in the event the handle portion 24 does not return toits full line position shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. That is, with thearrangement shown in FIG. 5 and with the slightly upturned platensections 44 and 46, in the final assembly with the sheet 12, the platenportions 44 and 46 .may occupy the same plane in an arrangement wherethe handle portions 39 and 41 remain at least closer to the dottedpositions, rather than the solid line positions, shown in FIG. 5.Depending upon tautness desired in the sheet 12, and upon the degree ofresiliency in the handle portion 24, the arrangement of FIG. 5 may beemployed, if desired.

The body piece 10 can therefore be made of one continuous sheet formextending from one leg or end 17 through to the other leg or end 18, andthe sheet can be of any length of say many feet made in an extrusionprocess to give it the configuration seen in FIG. 1. Then the longextruded sheet can be cut into desired lengths, of say-six or so inches,and thus a number of body pieces 10 can be made from one extruded longsheet. Likewise, the clips 11 can be made from one extruded long sheetand can be cut to the same lengths as the length of the body piece 10,as described. As further mentioned, the clips 11 extend throughout thelength of the body piece, so the sheet is held firmly along the entirelength of the body piece 10. Of course the clips 1 l have their oppositeends open so that they can slide over the sheet and over the upturnedends 17 and 18 in either direction and axially of the length of theclips 11.

It will therefore be seen and understood that the holder of thisinvention is of a simplified construction which permits ready and easyattachment and/or replacement of the sheet, and which holds the sheet ina taut manner. Further, the sheet may be of any material, such as cloth,fleece, paper, or the like, and it can be used for any purpose ofapplying paint, liquid, sandpapering, or the like. One particularapplication of this holder is for the purpose of applying developmentliquids to a photolithographic plate, and here it will be understoodthat the sheet 12 is preferably of a fleece material and extends beyondthe edges of the holder itself so that the holder is not exposed to thedelicate plate and therefore cannot scratch or damage the plate. Also,the solvents of the development liquid commonly damage the sheets whichare used for applying the liquid so that the sheets have to befrequently replaced, and this holder permits such easy and readyreplacement. Still further, the holder of this invention is susceptibleto receiving different colorings or like markings or indicia so that aholder made of one color, say of one plastic material having a color,can be used for applying one liquid to a plate, and then a holder of adifferent color can be readily provided and used for applying anotherliquid to the same plate, and in these applications, the user will notbe interchanging the liquid and the applicator or holder and willtherefore not make a mistake and inadvertently apply the wrong holder tothe plate having a certain developer or solvent applied to it. The factthat the configuration of this holder lends itself to formation by anextruding process renders the provision of the different colored holdersa constructive and feasible provision, such as for the purposementioned. At the same time, the holder is of a lightweight and has nohinged parts, nails or staples or the like which could possibly damagethe work surface, such as a sensitive photolithographic plate, and theholder is arranged with the handle 24 having its inclined legs 26 sothat the user can securely and accurately hold and direct and positionthe entire holder in its use.

Further, the holder is susceptible to being made of a flexible material,such as a plastic material, for the purpose of positioning it in thedotted line position shown and described in connection with FIG. 5, andalso for the purpose of permitting the user to press down onto a worksurface and thereby apply only one corner or one side, such as eitherplaten section 21 or 22, to the work surface. That is, the user can holdthe handle 24 and press down onto the work surface to have only onecorner of either platen section 21 or 22 bear down against the worksurface, and the platen sections 21 or 22 will sufficiently flex so thatonly the corner thereof will be down on the work surface. Alternatively,the user can bear downwardly onto the work surface to have either theentire platen section 21 or 22 apply to the work surface, rather thanonly one corner thereof. The feature of having only a comer of theentire holder apply to the work surface is important where it is desiredto have only a small part of the entire platen applied to the worksurface or to have a specific pressure of application of the platenapply to the work surface.

What is claimed is:

1. A releasable sheet holder comprising a body piece.

of generally a W shape, a platen portion included in said body piece andextending throughout the area of said body piece at one side thereof andhaving a face for presenting a backing support for a sheet lying acrosssaid platen portion, the two ends of said body piece at opposite sidesthereof being upturned ends extending offset from the plane of said faceto present the two outer legs of the W shape and to engage the oppositeends of a sheet which is extending across said platen and is draped oversaid two ends, a handle portion included in said body piece andextending centrally thereon to present the center section of the Wshape, and a U-shaped clip releasably disposed on each of said two legsand being positionable over the respective opposite draped ends of thesheet for holding the sheet to said body piece.

2. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said platen portion consists of two spacedapart sections, saidhandle portion being connected to said platen sections and beingresilient for yieldingly urging said platen sections away from eachother, whereby said platen sections can be moved toward each other whilethe sheet is disposed across said platen portion and said platensections subsequently tautly dispose the sheet across said platenportion when the sheet is being held by said body piece and said handleis urging said platen sections away from each other.

3. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 2, whereinsaid bodypiece is a one-piece member and said handle portion is in a loopconfiguration extending continuously from one of said platen sections tothe other of said platen sections.

4. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bodypiece is a one-piece member extending continuously in sheet form fromone of said legs to the other of said legs and including said handleportion which is disposed in the form of a loop of said sheet form.

5. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 4, wherein saidplaten portion consists of two spacedapart sections, and said handleportion is between said platen sections.

6. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 5, wherein saidplaten sections are spaced apart by said handle portion, and said handleportion is resilient for moving said platen sections toward each otherfor tautly attaching the sheet to said body piece.

7. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 4 wherein said bodypiece is of the one-piece and sheet form suitable for forming byextrusion from resilient plastic material.

8. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said legshave enlarged portions on the extending edges thereof for snuglyreceiving said clips.

9. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lengthof said body piece in the direction along the terminal edges of saidupturned ends and the length of said clips in the direction along saidterminal edges are equal to each other.

10. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidclips have an open end for sliding onto said upturned ends, and thelength of said body piece in the direction along the terminal edges ofsaid upturned ends is less than the length of the sheet being held bysaid holder, and said sheet overlaps the edge of said upturned ends inthe direction of the length of said body piece, for crimping theoverlapped end of said sheet to facilitate sliding said clips onto saidupturned ends and over said sheet.

11. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bodypiece is made of a resilient plastic material for flexing of said platenportion when applied to a work surface for applying only a corner ofsaid platen portion to the work surface.

12. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 11, wherein saidplaten portion is in two spaced-apart platen sections, and said handleportion is in a loop configuration connnecting said platen sectionstogether whereby either one of said platen sections can be pressedagainst a work surface while said handle portion is flexed to hold theother of said platen sections off the work surface.

1. A releasable sheet holder comprising a body piece of generally a Wshape, a platen portion included in said body piece and extendingthroughout the area of said body piece at one side thereof and having aface for presenting a backing support for a sheet lying across saidplaten portion, the two ends of said body piece at opposite sidesthereof being upturned ends extending offset from the plane of said faceto present the two outer legs of the W shape and to engage the oppositeends of a sheet which is extending across said platen and is draped oversaid two ends, a handle portion included in said body piece andextending centrally thereon to present the center section of the Wshape, and a U-shaped clip releasably disposed on each of said two legsand being positionable over the respective opposite draped ends of thesheet for holding the sheet to said body piece.
 2. The releasable sheetholder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said platen portion consists oftwo spaced-apart sections, said handle portion being connected to saidplaten sections and being resilient for yieldingly urging said platensections away from each other, whereby said platen sections can be movedtoward each other while the sheet is disposed across said platen portionand said platen sections subsequently tautly dispose the sheet acrosssaid platen portion when the sheet is being held by said body piece andsaid handle is urging said platen sections away from each other.
 3. Thereleasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 2, whereinsaid body piece isa one-piece member and said handle portion is in a loop configurationextending continuously from one of said platen sections to the other ofsaid platen sections.
 4. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim1, wherein said body piece is a one-piece member extending continuouslyin sheet form from one of said legs to the other of said legs andincluding said handle portion which is disposed in the form of a loop ofsaid sheet form.
 5. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 4,wherein said platen portion consists of two spaced-apart sections, andsaid handle portion is between said platen sections.
 6. The releasablesheet holder as claimed in claim 5, wherein said platen sections arespaced apart by said handle portion, and said handle portion isresilient for moving said platen sections toward each other for tautlyattaching the sheet to said body piece.
 7. The releasable sheet holderas claimed in claim 4 wherein said body piece is of the one-piece andsheet form suitable for forming by extrusion from resilient plasticmaterial.
 8. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid legs have enlarged portions on the extending edges thereof forsnugly receiving said clips.
 9. The releasable sheet holder as claimedin claim 1, wherein the length of said body piece in the direction alongthe terminal edGes of said upturned ends and the length of said clips inthe direction along said terminal edges are equal to each other.
 10. Thereleasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clips havean open end for sliding onto said upturned ends, and the length of saidbody piece in the direction along the terminal edges of said upturnedends is less than the length of the sheet being held by said holder, andsaid sheet overlaps the edge of said upturned ends in the direction ofthe length of said body piece, for crimping the overlapped end of saidsheet to facilitate sliding said clips onto said upturned ends and oversaid sheet.
 11. The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 1,wherein said body piece is made of a resilient plastic material forflexing of said platen portion when applied to a work surface forapplying only a corner of said platen portion to the work surface. 12.The releasable sheet holder as claimed in claim 11, wherein said platenportion is in two spaced-apart platen sections, and said handle portionis in a loop configuration connnecting said platen sections togetherwhereby either one of said platen sections can be pressed against a worksurface while said handle portion is flexed to hold the other of saidplaten sections off the work surface.